Update Given on Delaware EVH-1 Situation

A Standardbred has tested positive for EHV-1 at a Delaware training center.

Two days following a Dec. 8 report that a Standardbred had tested positive at a Delaware training center, blood and nasal swab samples were collected from all horses in the quarantined barn and submitted to the University of Kentucky for PCR testing to detect the disease.

Dr. Heather Hirst, Delaware state veterinarian, was notified that one of 16 horses in the quarantined barn had developed a fever that same evening. On Dec. 11, the febrile horse was moved to an isolation facility approved by the Delaware Department of Agriculture.

No other horses are at the facility or on neighboring properties.

Dr. Hirst Dec. 12 learned from UK’s PCR test results that the isolated (febrile) horse tested negative for EHV-1 on blood and nasal swabs. A repeat sample was collected and results are pending.

One horse in the quarantined barn tested nasal swab positive for EHV-1. The blood sample was test-negative, but the horse is being treated as a new case. The horse, who has no clinical signs of disease, was moved to an isolation facility approved by the Delaware Department of Agriculture Dec. 12.

The 14 remaining horses in the quarantined barn tested negative for EHV-1 on both nasal swabs and blood samples.

The quarantine will remain in effect on the original barn for at least 21 days. The two horses in isolation are also considered to be under quarantine, and no horses may move in or out of said facility.

Biosecurity protocols are being implemented at both locations to prevent the spread of the virus.

Any horses developing fever or clinical signs of neurologic disease will be tested immediately. All horses involved in the current quarantine will be tested again prior to lifting the quarantine.